India:India successfully test fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile with a range of 3,000km yesterday as part of its long-standing goal of developing a strategic deterrent against regional rival China.
India, which fought a border war with China in 1962 over a territorial dispute that remains unresolved, had claimed that fear of Beijing's nuclear arsenal was behind it conducting its underground nuclear tests in May 1998 as well as hastening its indigenous missile programme to enable it to deliver nuclear warheads.
China, with its formidable arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles like the DF31 and DF31A which are capable of hitting any Indian city, declined to comment on the Agni-III test. Instead, it urged Delhi to promote peace and stability in Asia. "We hope that India, as a country with an important influence in this region can work to maintain and promote peace and stability," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in Beijing.
"The entire test [Agni-III] had textbook precision," Indian defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said of the missile, which was launched from Wheeler Island off India's east coast, and is reportedly capable of carrying a 300-kiloton nuclear warhead. Agni-III's earlier test firing last July failed and it plunged into the sea due to technical problems with the heat shield that defence scientists said had been successfully resolved.
Shorter range versions of the same missile, developed with nuclear rival Pakistan in mind, are in production and have been brought into service with the Indian army.
Defence scientists said a successful Agni-III missile would enable India to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of more than 5,000km.